Orthodox Saints of the Pre-Schism
See of Rome
7th April (NS) — 25th March (OS) 2024
ÆLFWOLD (ALFWOLD) of SHERBORNE, a monk at Winchester, St. Ælfwold was known for his great devotion to SS. Swithun (2nd July) and Cuthbert (20th March). He was consecrated Bishop of Sherborne in 1045, governing that See with great care and enthusiasm until his repose in 1058.
BARONTIUS of PISTOIA and DESIDERIUS of PISTOIA, Barontius was a nobleman, generally said to have been at the court of King Thierry (Theuderic) II (r. 595–613). This is most likely not the case as St. Barontius reposed in the first quarter of the eighth century. Whatever the case maybe, St. Barontius left the world and received monastic tonsure at the Abbey of St. Cyran of Jambot (abbaye du Saint-Cyran-du-Jambot) in Burgundy. St. Barontius had a vision in which he was instructed to go to Italy and become a hermit near Pistoia in Tuscany. There St. Barontius was joined by St. Desiderius and others. SS. Barontius and Desiderius reposed circa 700 – 725.
HERMENLAND (ERBLON, HERBLAND, HERMELAND) of AINDRE, a priest-monk at the Abbey of St. Wandrille in Fontenelle Normandy. St. Hermenland was sent with twelve monks to establish a new monastery on the island of Aindre in the Loire estuary in Brittany. St. Hermenland reposed circa 720.
HUMBERT of PELAGIUS, a disciple of St. Amandus of Elnon (6th February), and founding Abbot of an abbey at Marolles in Flanders. St. Humbert reposed circa 680.
IRENAEUS of SIRMIUM, a bishop in Pannonia (present-day Hungary) who was martyred during the Diocletianic Persecution at Sirmium (present-day Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia) in 304.
KENNOCHA (KYLE, ENOCH) of FIFE, a monastic at an abbey in Fife of noble Scottish birth. St. Kennocha was held in great veneration in Scotland, especially in Strathclyde. She reposed at an advanced age in 1007. No further information on this saint is extant.
MARTYRS of ROME, (Date Unknown), a group of two hundred and sixty-two martyrs at Rome. No further information is known about them; however, some sources believe they may possibly be the same group of martyrs commemorated on 1st March.
QUIRINUS of ROME, a friend of SS. Marius and Martha (19th January), martyred in Rome, circa 269, during the persecutions during the reign of Emperor Claudius II (r. 268–270).
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BRYNACH (BEMACH, BEMACUS) of CARN-ENGYLE, an Irishman, St. Brynach settled in Wales where he built a cell and church at a place now called Carn-Inglyi (Mountain of Angels), which overhangs Newport, Pembrokeshire, Wales. In addition, several churches in Pembrokeshire dedicated to him. There is little further information extant on this saint, though it seems likely that he reposed in the first half of the fifth century. Some sources state he is the same saint as St. Brannoc of Braughton (7th January), but there is no reliable information to support this assertion.
EPIPHANIUS the MARTYR, DONATUS of NORTH AFRICA, RUFINUS the MARTYR, and COMPANIONS, (Date Uncertain), Epiphanius was a bishop of an unknown See in North Africa. Various martyrologies list him as having been martyred along with thirteen (or fifteen) members of his flock. Nothing further is known of these martyrs.
FINIAN (FINAN, FINNIAN) of KINNITTY, (Sixth Century), a native of Munster, Ireland, St. Finian was said to have been given the gifts of prophecy and miraculous powers as a child. He became a disciple of St. Brendan the Voyager (16th May), at whose direction, St. Finian founded a monastery at Kinnitty (Irish: Cionn Eitigh), Co. Offaly, Ireland.
GIBARDUS of LUXEUIL, an Abbot of the the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul of Luxeuil (abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul de Luxeuil) in Luxeuil, France. St. Gibardus and his monks fled the Abbey in the hopes of evading the invading Huns, however, the Huns captured the monks and subsequently martyred them, circa 888.
Icon of SS. Gwrnerth and Llywelyn
GORAN (WORANUS), (Sixth Century), a friend of St. Petroc (4th June) who appears to have lived at Bodmin, Cornwall, England. There are several churches in Cornwall dedicated to him. No further information on this saint is extant.
HEGESIPPUS of JERUSALEM, a Jewish convert to Christianity, born in Jerusalem, St. Hegesippus spent twenty years of his life in Rome studying the early Church. The first to trace the Apostolic Succession of the Bishops of Rome, he is considered the father of ecclesiastical history. Though little of his work is survived to the present, it formed the backbone of Eusebius’ research for his Ecclesiastical History, and was recommended by St. Jerome (30th September). St. Hegesippus returned to Jerusalem for his final years and reposed there, most likely circa 180.
LLEWELLYN (LLYWELYN) and GWRNERTH, these two monks lived at Welshpool and later at Bardsey in Wales at some point in the sixth century Nothing further is known of their lives.
SATURNINUS of VERONA, a fourth century Bishop of Verona in the Veneto region of Italy. Nothing further is known about this saint.
Prior to the Schism the Patriarchate of Rome was Orthodox, and fully in communion with the Orthodox Church. As Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco +1966 said “The West was Orthodox for a thousand years, and her venerable Liturgy is far older than any of her heresies”.
Details of British Saints excerpted from Orthodox Saints of the British Isles.
Details of continental saints from these sources.
In many cases there are several spelling versions of the names of saints from the British Isles. I use the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography version as the primary version with the more prevalent version in parenthesis e.g. Ceadda (Chad) of Lichfield.